Cross-cultural Research Methods

Without ethnography, cross-cultural comparison would not be possible. But without cross-cultural comparison, we would know nothing of what may be universal or variable across human cultures, or why variation exists. Cross-Cultural Research Methods is an introductory teaching tool that shows students and potential researchers how to describe, compare, and analyze patterns that occur in different cultures, that is, how to form and test anthropological, sociological, psychological, medical, or political hypotheses about cultural variation.

Carol R. Ember is executive director of the Human Relations Area Files at Yale University. Melvin Ember is president of the Human Relations Area Files at Yale University. They have coauthored numerous books, including the Choice outstanding academic title award-winning first edition of Cross-Cultural Research Methods and the textbooks Anthropology and Cultural Anthropology, both in their twelfth editions.